title: Oxidative stress and antimicrobial activity of chromium(III) and ruthenium(II) complexes on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.
abstract: The prevalence of antibiotic resistance has resulted in the need for new approaches to be developed to combat previously easily treatable infections. The main aim of this work was to establish the potential of the synthetic α-diimine chromium(III) and ruthenium(II) complexes (where the α-diimine ligands are bpy = 2,2-bipyridine, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, and dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]-phenazine) like [Cr(phen)3](3+), [Cr(phen)2(dppz)](3+), [Ru(phen)3](2+), and [Ru(bpy)3](2+) as antibacterial agents by generating oxidative stress. The [Cr(phen)3](3+) and [Cr(phen)2(dppz)](3+) complexes showed activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 0.125 μg/mL to 1 μg/mL, while [Ru(phen)3](2+) and [Ru(bpy)3](2+) do not exhibit antimicrobial activity against the two bacterial genera studied at the concentration range used. When ciprofloxacin was combined with [Cr(phen)3](3+) for the inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, an important synergistic effect was observed, FIC 0.066 for S. aureus and FIC 0.064 for E. coli. The work described here shows that chromium(III) complexes are bactericidal for S. aureus and E. coli. Our results indicate that α -diimine chromium(III) complexes may be interesting to open new paths for metallodrug chemotherapy against different bacterial genera since some of these complexes have been found to exhibit remarkable antibacterial activities.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, X5000HUA Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Paulina L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Páez
authors.forename: Claudia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bazán
authors.forename: María E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bongiovanni
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Toneatto
authors.forename: Inés
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Albesa
authors.forename: María C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Becerra
authors.forename: Gerardo A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Argüello
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002857:Chromium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D010618:Phenanthrolines / Q000737:chemistry; D012428:Ruthenium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D010618:Phenanthrolines; D002857:Chromium; C034282:tris-(1,10-phenanthroline)ruthenium; D012428:Ruthenium; C025205:1,10-phenanthroline